Cousin
by confusedperson.com
Summary: When Ted's cousin comes to stay, Ted isn't particularly thrilled. But since his cousin is Blaine Anderson, there will be a little excitement coming Ted's way...
1. Chapter 1

Marshall pushed his key into the apartment lock. He'd had a really long day at work, and all he wanted to do was relax. As he opened the door, Marshall heard Ted speaking on the phone,

"mhm... yes... no, don't worry Aunt Maria, he'll be fine with us... no, really it's OK. I don't mind, really. OK. OK. Yeah, OK. See you soon, Aunt Maria. Bye now".

Ted ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Marshall walked into the apartment and shut the door behind him, as Ted looked up.

"Hey," he greeted Marshall, "How was work?"

"Not bad, just kinda... busy" replied Marshall. "What was that about?" he motioned to the phone.

"It was my Aunt Maria from Ohio" was the answer.

"Yeah, yeah I got that" Marshall said.

"Uh, well, she wants to send her 16-year-old Son, my cousin, Blaine over for a while. She just thinks it'll be good for him to get away for a while" Ted sighed.

"Is that a bad thing? What, is he a really rough kid?" asked Marshall, concerned.

"No, no" Ted answered quickly. "No, he's great, really well behaved, extremely charming. No, it's just that, well, I haven't seen him since... well, since... anyway, I haven't seen him in a while and last time I saw him he wasn't doing too great. I've talked to him on the phone and stuff, I just don't know if he's, well, OK now."

Marshall walked over and patted his best friend's shoulder.

"It'll be alright. It's OK with me and Lily if he wants to stay. We'll all be nice to him. Well, I don't know about Barney, but the rest of us will be sympathetic and kind and all to the kid. We all know how tough Junior year is." Marshall joked.

Ted nodded silently, deep in thought.

"C'mon, dude, let's go down to the Bar! Everyone's already there!" Marshall suddenly said.

"OK. Sure, let's go" replied Ted.

Down in the Bar, Robin and Barney were having an argument about Canada, and Lily was texting. Marshall and Ted came in and sat down in their booth with them.

"Hey guys" said Marshall cheerfully.

"S'up? Hey, how's my bro?" Barney asked Ted, "feel like I haven't seen you in years, man."  
"It's been, like 3 days" replied Ted, confused.

"Ah well, I missed ya" Barney was practically bouncing. "How come I haven't seen you then?"

"Well, you may have forgotten, it was kinda a big event but MY FIANCÈE LEFT ME AT THE FREAKING ALTAR AND I'VE BEEN SORTA DEPRESSED ABOUT IT!" Ted snapped.

"Whoa, dude, I'm sorry. Was just trying to make you feel better" Barney said quietly.

"No, look, dude, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got mad. I'm just tense." Ted apologized.

"Do you really think it'll be OK for you to have this cousin stay with you? I mean, if you're this cut up about Stella?" Marshall said softly.

"Cousin? What cousin?" asked Lily, interested.

"My aunt from Ohio wants to send my cousin Blaine here for a bit of a vacation. He's 16 and hasn't exactly had the greatest life, but he's a sweet kid. Polite. Is it alright with you if he stays with us?" Ted looked at Lily.

"Sure," she answered. "If it's OK with you. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yeah, I mean, I guess he'll take my mind off the whole Stella thing" replied Ted.

"When's he coming?" asked Robin

"Saturday"

"OK, well that gives us 2 days for you to tell us every embarrassing story about him ever" said Barney, with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"No. Look, Barney, last time I saw Blaine he was in a really vulnerable state. Just... be cool OK? Be sympathetic" Ted said with conviction.

"Ugh, fine" said Barney. "I'll try but I'm not promising anything".


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note – I didn't really introduce this story last chapter, so I guess I'll do it now. This is my first attempt at writing Fanfiction. I love both How I Met Your Mother and Glee, and I felt like there weren't a lot of crossovers of the two of them, so, yeah. This idea came to me at a train station, but hey, Harry Potter came to JK Rowling on a delayed train. I think this is set just after season 4 episode 5 of HIMYM, and in between season 2 and season 3 of Glee.**

Chapter 2

"So, how long did you say you were going for?" Kurt asked his boyfriend, sitting down on Blaine's bed.

"Just about two or three weeks, I think" said Blaine, folding a shirt and putting it into his case.

"I'm gonna miss you so much" Kurt sighed. He looked down.

"Hey" Blaine walked over to Kurt and lifted his chin up so Kurt was looking at him. "Come on, it won't be for too long."

"Yes, but I was hoping to spend the whole summer with you" Kurt pulled a 'puppy-dog' face at Blaine.

"Me too. Hey, look, Ted's OK. And he lives in New York. I haven't seen him in ages" Blaine put in.

"When was the last time?" asked Kurt.

"Uh... I've called him since, but it was uh... just after the, uh, the Sadie Hawkins dance..." Blaine trailed off.

"Oh. Hey, don't worry, I'll call you every day. OK?" Kurt saw his boyfriend smile at that.

"Sure."

Blaine stood in the Arrivals lounge of the 'JFK Airport' with his suitcase. He looked around anxiously. Suddenly, he saw five people in the crowd, one of which he recognised as his cousin Ted. Ted looked similar to how he did the last time Blaine saw him, he just looked older, more tired. Ted and the four people he was with came forward to greet Blaine.

"Blaine! Wow, hey! Haven't seen you in ages!" Ted said. Blaine smiled up at him and shook the hand Ted had outstretched.

"Yeah, I know, it's been too long" replied Blaine. "You haven't changed a bit, man!"

"You've grown a little... but you're still a hobbit!" Ted said, playfully punching Blaine's shoulder and smiling. "Man, it's good to see you. Oh, uh these are my friends" Ted said, motioning behind him. Blaine saw a short redheaded woman with her arm around a giant (in Blaine's perspective anyway!) a tall-ish brunette woman wearing shorts and a tank top even though it was particularly cold that day, for July, and a blond man wearing a suit who kept looking around and staring at womens' butts. "Lily" the redheaded woman nodded and smiled "Marshall" the giant loomed over Blaine and scared him a little; this looked like the type of guy who would crush your bones if you annoyed him (and Blaine had had experience of that and didn't want to relive it) "Robin" the brunette woman waved "And Barne... Barney?" the blond man was gone. Ted looked around and spotted his Suited-up friend talking to some ladies about twenty feet away. He marched over to Barney and grabbed his arm. Blaine could hear him protesting.

"This was a very expensive suit, Ted, if you rip it I will personally make sure your red cowboy boots are shoved where the sun don't shine. I'm serious Ted, this was made in Fiji..." Blaine couldn't help but chuckle, as the blond man was pulled over by his cousin.

"This, Blaine, is Barney Stinson" Ted said. Barney looked over his shoulder at the women behind him. Ted elbowed him in the ribs.

"OW!" said Barney. "Dude, I was, like, thirty seconds away from taking one of them home."

"Barney. This is my cousin Blaine" Ted motioned towards the short, gelled dark-haired boy who was shyly looking at his polished loafers. Barney studied Blaine for a little while before saying "Whatup?"

"Hi" replied Blaine quietly. He pulled at his sky-blue bowtie that hid under the collar of his white polo-shirt with sky-blue around the edges and smoothed out the creases in his classic Blaine Anderson 'Too-short-black-skinny-jeans', an outfit Kurt had picked out for him.

"Blaine, dude, I know this whole 'I'm an Anderson and we're polite and well-mannered' thing has been drummed into you, but relax, OK? You're here to relax" Ted chuckled a bit at his dapper younger cousin.

"OK." Blaine smiled.

"So, uh, how's your brother?" Ted asked Blaine as they made their way to the airport exit.

"Cooper? He's good, I think. He just booked a National commercial, actually" Blaine replied. Ted's eyes widened.

"Really? That's so cool! What for?"

"Free Credit Rating " Blaine replied.

"Huh. That is so cool. Well, I must remember to congratulate him." Ted grinned at Blaine. They were now outside and Marshall was hailing some cabs. "So, uh, how... how are you, Blaine?" Ted asked cautiously.

"Better, much better now, thanks for asking" Blaine saw Ted visibly sink in relief.

"Well, I think we're gonna have to hear all about what you've been up to" Ted patted his shorter cousin's shoulder and smiled.

**Author's Note – wow. This chapter was a lot longer than the last one. I don't know if I meant it to be or not, but whatever. Also, I'm actually British, so if any of the American terms are wrong, or if you have a question, feel free to message me, or review, or whatever!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note – I'm Back! (even though I didn't actually go anywhere) sorry for not posting this sooner, I had school and had to watch Supernatural and all of this.**

Back at Ted's apartment, things were going OK. Blaine didn't look so nervous, and Ted wasn't thinking about Stella. Barney, however, wasn't helping.

"So, your name's Blaine?" Barney asked loudly.

"Uh, yeah." Blaine replied quietly.

"That's such a weird name. It's like, your parents were like, 'hey, we could name our kid something normal but we won't because we're upper class'. I mean, Cooper isn't exactly a normal name either."

"My parents aren't really upper class, where d'you get that idea from?" asked Blaine.

"Dude. You're in loafers and a bow tie, and you're not even going to a formal occasion" Barney stared at Blaine, hard.

Blaine shrugged. "You're wearing a suit."

"Oh, Barney always wears suits" said the small redhead, who Blaine remembered was called Lily.

"Yeah, except for funerals" put in Marshall, who didn't look so scary sitting down. Just then, Ted ran in from his bedroom.

"Hey, Ted, what's the hurry?" asked Robin.

"I gotta go, I just remembered I didn't buy groceries" Ted pulled on his jacket.

"Hey, I can go" Marshall said to his best friend.

"No, you went last time. It's OK. Just, look after Blaine, make sure he's comfortable and all. Don't be awkward Barney" Ted finished.

"Hey!" Barney cried indignantly.

"I'll be back in, like, a half hour" Ted opened the door and grabbed his keys. "Bye."

Everything was quiet for a moment, until,

"So, you're from Ohio? Isn't that, like, the lamest place in the states?"

"BARNEY!" Lily yelled.

Barney opened his mouth to respond, but just then, Blaine's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and smiled when he saw the caller ID.

"Excuse me, I gotta take this" Blaine motioned to his still ringing phone.

"Yeah, no problem" Marshall smiled at the dark-haired boy, who walked into the kitchen to answer his call. "Hey, sweetie. No, I'm fine. Really."

"He seems OK to me" said Lily. "Nice kid, although maybe that's just because I'm used to kindergarteners."

"Wonder why Ted was so worried. He doesn't seem like he's in a vulnerable state to me" Robin looked over her shoulder.

"Let's ask him" Barney said.

Blaine came back into the living room, having just finished his phone call.

"Was that your girlfriend?" asked Lily, having registered the word 'Sweetie' and seen all the signs of a person talking to their partner.

"Uh, no" Blaine replied quietly. "It... it was my boyfriend, Kurt."

Everything was silent for about ten seconds until Barney broke the silence by saying,

"Oh, cool."

"Wait, so you're not going to call me names and make fun of me?" asked Blaine, confused.

"No. No way. My brother James is gay, and he's probably one of the most awesome people on this earth. Besides me, obviously" Barney grinned.

"We don't care, Blaine. As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter who you love" Lily leaned forward and motioned for Blaine to sit.

"Well, it's nice to know not every person in the world is homophobic" Blaine sat down and smiled.

"Sounds like you two are really sweet together" said Lily.

"Yeah... I love Kurt, and he loves me. I hope" Blaine joked.

"Where did you meet him? At school?" asked Robin.

"Uh, no. Well, yes... no... Kurt came to my school because some of the guys in his Glee club sent him to come spy on our Glee club" Blaine explained.

"Glee club? You sing?" asked Marshall.

"Well, yeah. So, Kurt wasn't a very good spy, and I saw right through him. We became friends, or, I sorta became his mentor. He was having a rough time with bullies at his school, and I helped him. Then one of the bullies threatened to kill him, and he transferred to my school. I didn't realise I loved him until a while later. He sang 'Blackbird' by the Beatles and I realised I did. He moved back to his old school, and I'm considering transferring there too." Blaine said.

"Aww, that's cute" Lily said, eyes shining. Barney rolled his eyes and made retching motions silently behind her back.

"So, hey Blaine? Can... can I ask you something?" Marshall asked awkwardly.

"Um, sure." Blaine smiled at the tall sasquatch-like man.

"Ted said the last time he saw you, you were in a really vulnerable state. What exactly did he mean?" Marshall chose his words slowly. Blaine looked at Marshall, then exhaled and looked down.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to" Robin said hurriedly.

"No, no, it's OK. Um, last time Ted saw me was just after my old school had a Sadie Hawkins dance. It was just after I had, you know, come out, and my friends all stopped talking to me and avoided me. It's fine" Blaine said quickly after seeing his cousin's friends' expressions. "Yeah, so I asked the only guy who was still talking to me, he was the only other 'out-of-the-closet' guy at my school. He said yes and we had a great time. Until we were waiting for his dad to pick us up..." Blaine trailed off as the memories came back to him. "These... these jocks just came out of nowhere, and they... they, uh, beat the living daylights out of us." Blaine looked at the floor.

"Oh my goodness" Lily breathed in horror.

"Ted came with the rest of my family to see me in hospital. I was in there for almost a week." Blaine scratched his head.

"Were you OK?" Barney asked, genuinely concerned for the 16-year-old.

"Physically, I guess. Had to have surgery to put some pins in my ankle, because it got broken really badly. My spleen got removed and one of my ribs got broken and punctured a lung. I lost a lot of blood and my skull got fractured."

"That doesn't sound OK to me." Marshall's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing was permanent, except sometimes I get headaches and my ankle hurts if I do anything too strenuous. Mentally... well, let's just say I don't think you ever recover from something like that." Blaine looked up and sighed. "After that, I moved to Dalton Academy, where I go now. There is an anti-harassment policy there."

"So you're OK now?" Asked Robin.

"Yeah, I mean, Kurt has really helped me get past the nightmares I sometimes have. It's just... sometimes I feel like I've run away, you know? I didn't stand up for myself. I was a coward."

"No, Blaine, the fact that you are who you are now, how open you are about your sexuality shows that you are incredibly brave." Lily reassured Blaine. He smiled at her. Just then, Ted entered the house with a few bags of groceries.

"Hey, guys" he greeted them.

"Hi. Hey, listen, do you mind if I take Blaine on a quick tour of the city?" Barney asked his bro.

"No, sure, go ahead. If it's alright with you, Blaine" Ted looked at his little cousin.

"Sure, I'd love that" Blaine stood up and walked to the door with Barney.

"OK, I think I want you as one of my bros. I am going to teach you how to live..." Barney's voice got quieter as he left the apartment with Blaine. Ted put the groceries in the kitchen and sat down. Only then did he see the looks on his friends' faces.

"What's up?" he asked them.

"Blaine told us about his Sadie Hawkins dance" replied Marshall quietly. Ted nodded his head and looked down as the memories came flooding back to him. He had always loved his cousin, and wanted to protect him, despite their age difference. He remembered seeing Blaine looking so small in the hospital bed, so afraid. He remembered sitting by Blaine's bedside and whispering to his sleeping form that it was going to be OK, that everything was going to be OK. At the time, Ted didn't know himself if it was, but he knew he wasn't just trying to convince Blaine, he was also trying to convince himself.

**Author's note – wow, this chapter was long. It took me ages to write but hey ho. I won't be able to post another chapter for a while, I'm going on holiday to Germany, so yeah. Please review though, I love reading what people think. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note – sorry this took so long to do. I started another story and I went on holiday and stuff and this story just got pushed back a bit. I know at least one person would quote Ron Weasley at this point and say "She needs to sort out her priorities". If you like, you can read my other story, it's called 'Mckinley High's supernatural experience'. I'd really appreciate it.**

**Chapter 4**

Ten minutes later, Blaine was standing on top of a table being measured by Barney's tailor.

"Ok, rule one, lose the hair gel. It doesn't go with your suit." Barney looked up at the 16-year-old who was, for once in his life, feeling quite tall standing there on top of the table.

Blaine looked confused. "I'm not wearing a suit."

"Rule two, get a suit. That's what we're doing now."

"What's wrong with the clothes I'm wearing?" asked Blaine.

Barney looked at him incredulously. "Seriously? It sorta looks like you are going to the opera but you're only half dressed. No offence."  
Blaine opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. He then said "I don't want to get rid of the hair gel. My hair goes SUPER fluffy and curly when I don't use it."

"Ok, don't get rid of it completely. Just... use a little less, OK? I can show you how it's done."

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, things weren't going well. Now that Blaine was gone with Barney, Ted couldn't stop thinking about Stella and how he thought she was The One. On top of that he also kept thinking about Blaine and the Sadie Hawkins dance. But then Ted went on to think about how much happier he looked. He wanted to see what this Kurt kid was doing that could make Blaine so much happier.

"...Ted?"

"Huh?" Ted jumped and looked up to see his three friends staring at him.

"You OK buddy?" asked Marshall, looking concerned.

"Yeah, yeah totally. Um... what were we talking about?" Ted asked, rubbing his temples.

"I was just wondering why Barney took Blaine out. I mean, Blaine's not exactly his usual 'bro' type." Robin said.

"Maybe he is. Or maybe he wanted a new wingman. Or maybe-"

"Maybe Blaine and Barney both know each other somehow, like, they met in an alternate dimension." Marshall cut off Ted.

"Yeah... I'm gonna say no." Robin looked at Marshall

"Yeah. I second that." Ted replied. "Maybe he's just trying to get Blaine to be like him."

"Uh, no. No, I don't think that's it." Said Lily quietly. She was avoiding eye contact with all of her friends.

"Lily? ...do you know something that we don't?" Robin frowned at her Best Friend.

"Um... no?" Lily said, even more quietly.

"Lilypad?" Marshall asked.

Lily gave in to the nickname. "Barney told me something but told me to keep it a secret."

"What is it?" Ted asked.

"It's a secret!" said Lily.

"You're terrible at keeping secrets anyway, just tell us." Robin grinned.

Lily hesitated, but then, "Oh, fine. Barney told me something about him a few weeks ago, when I was over at his place. He didn't want me to, but I sorta half found out. You see, Barney..."

**Author's Note – oh, I'm so evil, leaving it there. I bet you're all just **_**dying**_** to know what Barney's secret is. **

**I'll try and update soon, but in the meantime, please review like **_**missie123 **_**and my dear (if slightly weird) friend **_**ethanblues.10**_**. I'm trying to persuade him to give me the name of his other account where he wrote a story about a male version of Elena from **_**the vampire diaries**_** and apparently he writes a lot of stories about sex and profanities. If any of you have read that story (it was posted roughly 2 weeks ago) please tell me as I am looking forward to seeing his writing style.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note – I know I kept you all in suspense about this #NATSARRY but all will be revealed shortly. I haven't updated in a while and I'm about to start exams but luckily the exams don't even mean anything. Anyway, I should probably stop rambling and get to the point.**

After Lily stopped speaking, her three friends stared at her in silence. None of them could find the words to express their feelings about the words that had just come from Lily's mouth. Ted was the first one to find his tongue.

"Oh my God." Ted finally spoke. "Barney, he-he just seems so tough, and... who would want to do that to him? Who could?"

Robin shook her head. "Well, it seems like even the toughest of men have soft sides."

"It's not just a soft side. I wish it was just a soft side, it'd be better than reality." Lily said quickly. "It's like, this whole other person. And after he told me that, Barney cried. Like, REALLY cried. He was just so... vulnerable."

"It's so difficult to think of Barney that way." Marshall spoke quietly. "I mean, come on, it's Barney."

"Look, you guys can't treat him any differently, OK? He can't know I've told you. I promised I wouldn't. He'll know something's up." Lily pleaded.

"Chances are he'll know something's up anyway." Robin muttered. Just then, the apartment door opened and Barney walked in, with Blaine following suit... literally. The curly-haired boy was wearing a dark grey suit with a white shirt and a dark green tie. What was most different, however, was the hair. Blaine's hair was mostly un-gelled, and curly but not fluffy.

"Hey, look at you!" Ted raised his eyebrows at the 16-year-old, who really liked this new hairstyle.

"I know." Blaine grinned at his cousin. "I already sent, like, 10 pictures to Kurt."

"And?" asked Robin, who had grown quite fond of Blaine.

"He seems to like it." Blaine grinned so widely, Ted thought he was going to dislocate his jaw.

"We can't stay long, we're off to MacLaren's." Barney cut in.

"Why?" asked Marshall, because it was the only thing he could think to say. Ted, Robin and Lily were avoiding eye contact with Barney.

"Duh. Blaine's my new wingman. We're gonna go pick up some chicks. Well, I am. Blaine, I need to teach you some of my tricks." Barney walked towards the door. "We won't be back too late, don't worry Ted."

"I won't." Ted called back, as Barney and Blaine walked out of the apartment.

When Barney and Blaine arrived at MacLaren's, they sat at the usual booth and Barney ordered a scotch for himself and a lemonade for his new Bro. They both sipped at their drinks for a while, before Barney spoke,

"Hey, Blaine?"

"Yes?" Blaine looked at the suited-up man sitting across from him.

"You said you still have nightmares from... from that night." Barney said carefully.

"Yeah. Sometimes. Why?"

"Uh... sometimes talking about them helps. Just... just so you know. Although I'm guessing you already talk about them with Kurt." Barney looked at the table.

"I do. Are you... are you speaking from experience?" asked Blaine, his golden-brown eyes searching Barney's expression. He thought he saw a flash of pain cross Barney's face, but passed it off as nothing.

"Uh..." Barney trailed off.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Blaine cut in quickly.

"No, it's OK. Sharing is caring, right?" Barney joked half-heartedly. "You shared, so I will. OK. Um, not many people know about this and I'd rather keep it that way."

"My lips are sealed." Blaine mimed zipping his lips together.

"OK." Barney sighed. "Well, when I was... not much younger than you are now, I think I was about 14, 15, something like that, I was... bullied a lot in school. Like, a LOT. Because I didn't have a dad, and my mom slept around, and my brother was gay. And also because I was easy to pick on. I was small and weak. At first it was just people yelling things in the hallways at school at me. Then it got physical; I was shoved against lockers and onto the floor, people would throw bags at me, stuff like that. Then, one day, I stayed at school for a while to do some homework. When I left, there were a group of jocks waiting for me. I tried to run away but they pinned me down. And they pulled out a knife, and... and they s-stabbed me in the stomach with it."

Blaine's own stomach churned at the thought. Beating people up was one thing, but stabbing a person? That was diabolical.

"I had to have a kidney removed because of the damage done to it. I still have a scar." Barney pulled up his shirt, and Blaine saw, on the left side, a jagged scar. Blaine couldn't speak.

"I still have nightmares too, but they used to be way worse. I transferred schools after that." Barney said.

"Did the guys who... who did this get arrested?" Blaine asked.

"No. I tried to press charges but apparently there wasn't enough proof." Barney looked down. "I just wanted you to know... I know how you feel. And if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here."

"Likewise." Said Blaine softly. "At any time."

**Author's Note – I'm sorry, Barney. Oh well, now you know. I'm currently playing around with a few storylines for later in my head and I might bring Barney's bullies over, or Blaine's, for a visit. You never know.**

**Also Blaine's new hairstyle looks just like Darren Criss' does normally. Just to clear that up.**


End file.
